“Maybe he’s worried you’ll help the rebels, organize them and make them into a proper pack. Will you?”

“No. I told you: you’re more important to me than being in a pack.”

“You expect me to believe that you don’t miss being Alpha? That you don’t miss your old territory and your family and friends? Your mom and sister have come to visit, but your brother’s still back there.”

Nick raised a hand. “Three things. One, I never wanted to be Alpha. Two, my family is important to me, but so are you. Three, I don’t have friends.”

She double-blinked in surprise. “What do you mean, you don’t have friends?”

“Exactly what I said.”

“Then what’s Derren?”

“A pain in my ass. I told you, I don’t like company—except for yours, obviously.” He truly did enjoy being around her. His wolf, too, enjoyed it, even to the extent that he relaxed slightly when she was around.

A shifter who didn’t like company…Yeah, that was definitely a new one. “You do know that’s weird, don’t you?”

He shrugged. “I was never what you’d call social. But when I came out of juvie…I just didn’t feel like I could relate to other people. Derren, sure. But the others…they spent their teenage years going on dates, attending proms, and sneaking out to parties. I spent those years trying to stay alive in prison.”

Her wolf growled at that idea, not liking it any more than Shaya did. He had spoken so matter-of-factly—there was no sense of him feeling sorry for himself, and that just made the whole thing even more heart-wrenching for her. “I’ve heard stories about what those places are like. Is it as bad as the stories say?”

“Shifter juvie centers are inverted communities where the mayors are sick-minded prison guards who have taken your rights away and have total control of your life. But it’s not just them you have to worry about. There’s what you might call a ‘prisoner code’—break that, and you can be killed by your own kind. Fighting becomes a survival tool. The center that I went to…it wasn’t interested in rehabilitating us, wasn’t aiming to help us become well-adjusted adults. All it did was breed anger and hate and a hunger for vengeance. On the other hand, it’s a place that will teach you how to be street-smart, how to survive in the worst circumstances.” He gave her a grim smile. “Like I said, I don’t have pretty stories to tell you.”

“Maybe I still want to hear them.”

“So you can have more reasons to try to keep me away?” He shook his head. “You’re too important. I have to have you.”

“You’re sure this isn’t simply pride, stubbornness, and possessiveness talking? After all, it comes with being an alpha and the mating urges. I mean, you almost attacked Dom—” She stopped as he leaned forward and put a finger to her lips.

“Don’t say his name, Shay. You don’t know how hard it was not to kill the flirt.”

She might have snapped at him for that comment if she hadn’t noticed a hint of pain in his eyes. The idea of her with Dominic had hurt him, she realized. Not just pricked at his possessive instincts. It had hurt him. Maybe she shouldn’t have cared, but then she remembered that Nick hadn’t dated anyone since first seeing her. He hadn’t even sought comfort from another female when he thought she was with Dominic, despite that pain and what must have felt like betrayal. “He’s just a friend. That’s all he ever was.”

“I know. Your old packmate, Ryan, assured me of that.”

“Ryan?”

“I saw him with the flirt at a club one night. I think Ryan was worried that I was going to attack his packmate—which I was—so he told me the facts in an effort to instill some rationality into me. Ryan then said he’d hate to hurt Shaya’s mate, so if I could leave the flirt alone, that would be great. Still, hearing you say his name makes me want to bite you.” To mark her, remind her that she didn’t belong to Dominic, she belonged to him. “I think you’d like that.”

Blushing and stifling her smile, she snapped, “Fuck you.”

“What, you mean right now? In front of all these people? I guess I could.”

She slapped his arm, and he laughed. Eager to change the subject, she said, “You need to make some friends. Whether you like company or not, it’s important to have friends.”

“Why would I want friends when I have you?”

“You don’t have me.”

“I will. Do you want to know what makes me so sure of that? Because no other situation is acceptable to me.” His life had been a dull time without her. He didn’t want to go back to that. Even arguing with her made him feel alive. It was the strangest feeling to have his wolf in a bright mood, but that was what she did to him. “Nothing you say or do will make me give up. Like I said, you’re too important to me. The sooner you accept that, the happier we’ll both be.”

The resolve in his tone and expression practically petted her wolf. Their food came then, and it seemed that Nick’s interest in chatting was over. With any normal person, it might have been because he was ready to tuck into his meal. But Nick wasn’t normal, and apparently what he really wanted was to up the level of sexual tension between them. If he wasn’t feeding her and then watching her chew as if riveted by the movement of her mouth, he was holding her hand and fiddling with it or nipping at her palm. In between all that, he would reach over and play with stray strands of her hair or snatch some of her fries, knowing she didn’t like to share her food. Then he tried playing footsie under the table, but after she lost her patience and stomped hard on his foot, they just ended up playfully kicking each other instead.

Shaya had been shocked to find that she was actually enjoying herself. She spent more time laughing and smiling than blushing, which was no small thing, given the filthy thoughts traveling through her mind. Of course that smile faded somewhat when they walked to the car and found a human guy with cold eyes and a cocky countenance waiting there with two other males, his hateful gaze trained on Nick. She recognized them as some of the human extremists from the other night.

She wasn’t surprised when Nick easily held the leader’s frosty gaze, not in the least bit intimidated. Nor was she surprised when he stood in front of her slightly in a very protective move. Derren seemed to appear out of absolutely nowhere on Nick’s other side, as expected. What did surprise her was that rage was radiating from both Nick and Derren. Sure, the humans were cruel and prejudiced, but this…this rage had a different source.